Well, dang it, we had a discussion on this issue earlier this season, but now I can't find it. It either was one of the threads that dropped off or this marvelous "search engine" (more like a "lost engine") doesn't bring it up.

I've made quite a few different mustards and have a ton of recipes on file, if it's recipes you want. There are seeded mustards, smooth mustards, sweet or slightly sweet compound mustards, like cranberry mustard, and also the cooked mustards with additions like egg, honey and mayonnaise.

You will find a lot of mustard recipes online and some of them provide instructions for canning, but after investigation I've rejected canning as an option for the following reasons:

1) A "plain" mustard, i.e. one that's basically mustard seed or mustard powder and some kind of vinegar, isn't a congenial environment for any kind of bacteria, so it doesn't need canning.

2) A mustard with eggs, mayonnaise or some combination of those ingredients isn't safe to can at home. There are such recipes online that provide instructions for canning, but I wouldn't trust them.

3) The canning process thickens the mustard in the jar and the heat makes the mustard more bland, so even if it could be safely canned, it may not taste so wonderful when you open it up.

Generally I refrigerate my mustards once they're sufficiently aged. I definitely refrigerate mustards with garlic, onion, other low-acid ingredients because even though the recipe also contains mustard and vinegar, I don't want to compromise safety.

I've attached a link with a lot of information on mustards, including some recipes.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: All About Mustard

Well, between Carol's response and the link she posted, most of your questions should be answere

Just one addition. Mustard's flavor is a function of two things:whether you start with yellow or black seed, and the liquid (plus other ingredients) you mix it with.

If you start with the same powder and other flavorings, but mix some with water, some with wine, some with vinegar, some with beer, etc., you will get different prepared mustards each time. So there's lots of room to experiment.

Oh, yippee! I get to try something new (again). Thanks for the responses. This actually sounds fairly easy. A good wintertime project, I think. Thank you - I had no idea.

Ann

It is a good wintertime project and also a great gift option, especially for those on special diets who can't have sweets. Unique, too. Some people get awfully tired of candy and cookies during the holiday season.

Carol

Some people get awfully tired of candy and cookies during the holiday season.

Count me as part of that group . I really am not much of a sweet person. Personally I would far rather receive *any* of the goodies I've put up this fall than sweets. I think the cranberry relish and jalapeno jelly both look so festive! And the peach salsa is just beautiful. Yup, I think my Christmas shopping is done. Thanks to you all.

This morning as I mentioned we should take some stuff with us to Colorado at Thanksgiving to give to my family, my husband said "there won't be anything left for us!". I said "have you LOOKED in the store room???" There's plenty for everyone.

Ann

Bumping this up since I'm about to make a few types of mustard. Should mustard be aged at room temperature before it's refrigerated? For weeks or just a few days? One recipe I'd like to try has alliums cooked & cooled in the vinegar, but strained out before the vinegar is used in the mustard. Would you leave that at room temperature too, since there are no low-acid ingredients in the final product?

One recipe I found calls for 6 cloves of garlic to be boiled in 2 cups of water for 10 minutes, then only the garlic is used in the recipe. Seems like there'd be no taste left, so I think I'll skip that one.

One last thing, can anyone describe sherry for me? I am familiar with ruby port, but I can't figure out whether sherry starts as red or white wine, so I can't start thinking of a substitute.

Melissa

Not wanting to be a wet blanket here, but a few years back, I was enamored with the idea of making my own fabulous, exotic mustards and purchased several pounds of brown and yellow seed, powdered seed, this that and the other, and gave it the old try. Again and again. I would say, all in all; bleck.

Now, I buy Grey Pompon in the big pint (500 ml) container, and mix in stuff like fresh chopped tarragon, dill, maybe some brown seeds for crunch, and a hot pepper flake or two, divide it up in little jars and leave it in the fridge for a week to flavor-mingle. This is a lot easier and gives very good results.

I still have the mustard powders, as I understand that mixed with water and poured out on the lawn, they are useful for harvesting earthworms for fishing. I have yet to try this.

Sherry is a sweetish, white wine. A Riesling or Gewurtztraminer (geh-verts-tra-meener) might be a substitute. I'm not sure what to recommend that is non-alcholic that wouldn't have a definite flavor of it's own ---- maybe white grape juice or apple juice.

I have a mustard recipe that uses boiled garlic and it just mellows the flavor out. I don't think it boils for 10 minutes, though--probably just for 2-3.

I usually cure my mustards in the fridge for a week or so, so I don't know about curing at room temp. I would think that the refrigeration would slow down the curing a bit.

Here's a rough formula I follow to create new mustards: Combine one part cold water and three parts mustard (commercial dry mustard alone or blended with home-ground seeds), then stir in 6 parts acid (try various vinegars, lime, lemon or orange juice, white wine, or even a hearty beer). For a mellower mustard, add two parts sweetener like honey, maple syrup, sugar or molasses. If you like, you can even add a half part tarragon, thyme, basil, fennel, dill, garlic or fresh or dried chiles.

Leigh

David,
I'm in mustard heaven over here. My mustard seeds are just for the pickles.
Melly

Yes, I made mustard. I use both the ground yellow mustard powder, as well as the brown mustard seeds, white wine vinegar. Tumeric for the yellow color, salt and sugar. There are many recipes, and some use the basic mustard to make mustard pickles. I had made a big batch of mustard that was left over from a batch of mustard pickles. The mustard was really tasty using mostly the brown mustard seeds ground up in my small coffe grinder. For a hot dog relish, I chopped up many onions and the last of the pickling cukes, and added some dried sweet red pepper flakes for color. The thickener I used was a small amount of Clear Jel, which is useful in home canning. When mixing the dried mustard with water or vinegar, it has to 'bloom' a few hours before the flavor develops. The same holds true for the very aromatic Chinese mustard. To help improve spicyness, add some Chinese mustard powder, and/or ground horseradish. Also, a honey mustard can be made, by simply adding honey to a basic recipe.

All I'm getting for that link is a page with an umbrella on it with other links to dating, education, finance, etc. Is it just me? Lori

Lori, me too. Looks like the mustard store has closed since Carol posted the link a year ago. That page seems to be a placeholder that the hosting company puts up after the customer stops paying for the URL.

I made a maple-cider mustard that is delicious, kind of sweet, and hot. I made a Bavarian mustard that is hotter and sweeter, but good. I also made a beer mustard that I was expecting to be the best, but the recipe called for simmering to thicken, and that seems to have deactivated the mustard heat (hasn't aged to final taste so will probably get better). That last one may need some crushed brown seeds, but the beer flavor is good.

Melissa